Downtown Fresno’s ArtHop morphs into massive street party. How did that happen? | Opinion

On the first Thursday of every month, downtown Fresno plays host to two simultaneous events.

One is ArtHop, when dozens of galleries, artists’ studios and commercial buildings open their doors for the public to view (and perhaps purchase) paintings, sculptures and photographs. It typically draws hundreds of people.

The other, also called ArtHop, is a massive street party/night market along Fulton Street. It typically draws thousands. No one knows how many, but the best estimate, that of Fresno Street Eats president Mike Osegueda, is 7,000 to 8,000.

Even though they share the same name, at least in common usage, the two events don’t share many similarities.

The official ArtHop is organized by the Fresno Arts Council, which prints a brochure that maps each of the 34 official downtown venues. Some are also located in the Tower District and, on third Thursdays, greater Fresno. Visiting hours are 5 to 8 p.m.

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The unofficial ArtHop isn’t organized at all, aside from a few specific locations. At 8 o’clock, the party is just getting started.

The two events draw largely different crowds. Average attendees at official ArtHop venues are older and whiter than ArtHop party-goers.

Wealthier, too. They’d have to be to even consider affording art pieces priced in the hundreds and thousands of dollars compared to the $10 friendship bracelets and knock-off band T-shirts for sale along Fulton.

“It really is two different things going on,” said Elliott Balch, CEO of the Downtown Fresno Partnership. “If you go to the traditional haunts of ArtHop, you wouldn’t know there are thousands of people a couple blocks away.”

“It’s two different worlds that really don’t bump into each other,” agreed Donald Munro, the former Bee arts writer and now publisher of a local arts blog.

Event’s artsy origins

ArtHop began in 1996 (the original spelling was ARThop) as a way for local artists to showcase their work to the public and also one another, according to Fresno Arts Council executive director Lilia González Chávez.

“They were having potlucks visiting each other’s spaces,” González Chávez said.

Held inside artist studios and galleries, most ArtHop venues were somewhat staid affairs despite usually having free wine.

There were exceptions, though: Theme nights at Chris Sorensen Studios (“Nudes in November always drew big crowds,” Munro recalled), outdoor glass-blowing demonstrations at Kliszewski Glass and fire breathers performing in the alley behind Broadway Studios.

ArtHop’s street party aspect emerged gradually, but by 2018 those involved could sense a shift. More people, many in their late teens and early 20s, were heading downtown to party and mingle than to view art. Behind-the-scenes disagreements emerged between those upset about the low-brow infiltration and those more interested in attracting crowds.

At one point, according to González Chávez, the Fresno Arts Council tried to trademark the ArtHop name. The attempt was unsuccessful, and the nonprofit appears to have resigned itself to what has transpired.

“My board has mixed feelings, but we all agree that ArtHop continues in our venues and what happens on Fulton and side streets is going to happen,” González Chávez said.

“We don’t control that, and we don’t want to control it. And maybe we shouldn’t because it has evolved organically.”

González Chávez has younger relatives who tell her they love going to ArtHop. But when she asks them what galleries they visited, they respond, “Oh, there were no galleries. It was on Fulton Street.”

The Malaga native is smiling when she tells me this. Partially because the downtown scene on the first Thursday night of every month reminds her of cruising up and down Belmont Avenue with friends as a teenager.

“We could cruise the Roeding Park circle, and we would meet kids from all over Fresno County,” González Chávez said. “That was our entertainment.”

ArtHop party expands

When the ArtHop party started happening, it was initially confined to specific blocks. The first street closure was on Fulton between Tuolumne and Stanislaus, and soon the festivities grew to include Cultural Arts Park. On the opposite end of the old pedestrian mall, Tioga-Sequoia Brewing (an official ArtHop venue) began holding monthly parties with food trucks and live music.

Today, there aren’t really any confines. On ArtHop night, the party-goers, food offerings and vendors stretch uninterrupted all the way from the Brewery District to the Cultural Arts District.

Tioga-Sequoia president Michael Cruz called ArtHop “the busiest day of the month for businesses” on Fulton. Between 1,400 and 2,000 people visit the brewery’s beer garden on those evenings, he said.

“You can count on ArtHop every month,” added Osegueda, better known as Mike Oz. “People do.”

Osegueda’s company, Fresno Street Eats, is the city permit-holder on ArtHop nights in the Brewery District (allowing for Fulton’s closure to car traffic between Inyo and Mono streets) as well as Cultural Arts Park. He and another local business, Vendor Village, coordinate the food truck and vendor offerings in those two locations.

Two other firms, MAS Fresno and Alley in the Valley, coordinate vendor offerings at Mariposa and Kern plazas, respectively, through an agreement with the Downtown Fresno Partnership.

Every other ArtHop vendor, including those set up on the corners or midblock in front of empty storefronts — and there are dozens of them — is unpermitted. A few arrive as early as 8 or 9 in the morning to grab the best sidewalk space.

“There are a lot of what you’d call rogue vendors out there, and ArtHop has become the center for that,” Osegueda said. “Anytime you’ve got thousands of people showing up for a regular event, other people are going to show up trying to make a buck.”

No citations have been issued to unpermitted vendors during ArtHop nights, according to Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz.

Two worlds intermingle

Balch said the Downtown Fresno Partnership “loves” welcoming thousands of young people downtown who represent a broad section of the community.

“For a long time we’ve longed for exactly that,” he added.

Still, the former downtown revitalization chief under Mayor Ashley Swearengin concedes the street party could be better managed in terms of road closures, space utilization and curation. Is that a responsibility the consortium of property owners is willing to shoulder?

“We’d be willing to take on the work to better organize things, but the reality is I don’t have any way to pay for it right now,” Balch said.

Even though the official ArtHop and the street party are separate entities, there are places and opportunities to intermingle.

The young woman selling $15 friendship bracelets might by chance park next to Robert Ogata’s gallery on Mono, spot an ArtHop sign and wander in. What she sees could inspire her to become a gallery artist.

In the same hypothetical scenario, the 17-year-old who came downtown to party might develop into a lifelong appreciator of fine art.

“It’s serendipity for both crowds,” González Chávez said. “The crowd coming down to see Ogata’s work, if they wander off onto Fulton and see kids singing on the street corner it’s like, ‘Wow, I wasn’t expecting that.’ ”

Munro, who teaches journalism courses at Fresno State, told me he’s surprised by how many of his students go downtown monthly for ArtHop. First to visit galleries, then head to the party.

“I think it’s funny in a way,” Munro said of the colliding worlds. “I’d rather have the kids excited for an art event than something that doesn’t have any cultural cache.”